Marbled Gecko Care

[thesilverbeast]

Even though i know enough to get by, please assume i know nothing and tell me everything i need to know about how to care for a young marbled gecko in melbourne.

I know there are some threads on here and i have searched and read through all of them as well as looked through the internet. The best thing i could find was a site that got everything from the wild and released the young ones when they wouldn't eat crickets :shock:

So man questions i have are on the care of little ones. The one I'm getting is only like 3ish cm SVL and around 5 with tail.

Pinhead crickets is obvious, but is that the only thing i feed?
How many do i feed and how often?
How essential is vitamin/calcium dusting of the crickets?

Just everything i would ever need to know about the care of these little guys would be appreciated. This way we can have something set to the care of the species without people like me having to ask more questions!

Thankyou!

 

[thesilverbeast]

I can't be the only one here with one!

 

[Rocket]

Simple escape-proof tank so I suggest the ventilated plastic tanks you can pick up from Cheap as chips, The reject shop etc for around $10. Design the cage to how they live in the wild. Marbled geckos are very variable and not picky of their habitats so you can design it to be rocky, wood with lots of logs, sticks etc. I even find them in and around my house.

Sand or turf substrate will suffice, include several areas for them to hide, a shallow water bowl, sticks, logs etc and your done. A water bowl isn't a necessity as you can lightly mist the enclosure and the gecko every few days.

Dependant on where your climate, heating isn't necessary, nor is UV lighting.

You can feed the gecko exclusively on crickets, powdering them every few feeds. Feed maybe every 2-3 days.

They are a very simple and non demanding species, you'll enjoy keeping them!

 

[thesilverbeast]

Thanks for that!


is that feeding for the young ones or just adults every 2-3 days?

and how much is a feed for them?

 

[carinacat]

also when do they breed? how long are they gravid for? incubate eggs or not?

 

[thesilverbeast]

see, everyone has questions on these guys, someone who knows enough should post up a good care guide covering everything

 

[thesilverbeast]

bump, how much do i feed at a time?

 

[Sidonia]

I'd be interested to know also.

 

[scorps]

same

 

[jordo]

Very under-rated easy gecko to keep, food quantity depends on temps but you can work it out by putting a certain number of crix in at night and count how many are left in the morning...
Carinacat - I removed any eggs layed and "incubated" them at room temp (on a shelf or somewhere out the way that no one will bump), they were hatched in about a 2:5, water:vermiculite ratio substrate.

 

[gonff]

are they aborial? how much do they cost?

 

[gonff]

plz?

 

[Rocket]

They are arboreal. You can usually pick up hatchies and adults for between $30-$60ea. The problem with Marbled Geckos in captivity is that the majority of specimens in the market, are illegally wild caught and with that, can bring unwanted mites, parasites etc into captive collections.